Chapter 16
A Community of Tennessee Writers, Readers & Passersby

Amanda Haggard

Wide Awake

Rough Sleepers is a compelling narrative and call to action

Rough Sleepers, the latest book by Pulitzer Prize winner Tracy Kidder, follows Dr. Jim O’Connell, a physician who has spent his career providing care for homeless people in Boston. Tracy Kidder will appear at the 2023 Southern Festival of Books in Nashville on October 21-22.

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Not Too Blue

Songwriter Lucinda Williams offers a transparent view of a life spent writing and healing

In her new memoir Don’t Tell Anybody the Secrets I Told You, Lucinda Williams tells the backstory of her songs and her life.

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Come Fly with Me

Flight Risk is about as fun as a murder mystery can be

A good whodunit doesn’t take itself too seriously, and Cherie Priest’s Flight Risk hits a sweet spot between Murder, She Wrote and Gone Girl.

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The Rainbow Connection

Lydia Conklin’s debut collection delivers complex stories of queer and trans experiences

In Rainbow Rainbow, a collection of 10 stories depicting trans and queer experiences, writer Lydia Conklin deftly portrays people and relationships, revealing how both survive the despair and joy of change. Conklin will discuss the book at The Porch in Nashville on November 16.

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Sitting in the Memories

Kendra Allen’s unconventional memoir reckons with trauma and personhood 

The stories in Kendra Allen’s memoir Fruit Punch are delivered in a lyrical mix of poetry and prose that can make you forget the story she’s telling is her own. Allen will appear at the 2022 Southern Festival of Books, held in Nashville on October 14-16.

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Let’s Go, Girls

Her Country makes the case for a more inclusive country music industry

In Her Country: How the Women of Country Music Became the Success They Were Never Supposed to Be, Marissa R. Moss gets to the deep struggles women in country music have faced and argues for a more inclusive industry. Moss will discuss Her Country at Parnassus Books in Nashville on May 10 and at the Tennessee State Museum on June 9.

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